Gross N, Robson TM, Lavorel S, Albert C, Le Bagousse-Pinguet Y, Guillemin R. 2008. Plant response traits mediate the effects of subalpine grasslands on soil moisture. New Phytologist 180: 652–662. Jenny H. 1941. Factors of soil formation. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill. Lavorel S, Garnier E. 2002. Predicting changes in community composition and ecosystem functioning from plant traits: revisitin...

How do we define the ‘plant microbiome’ and what is its significance to the plant genome? Before addressing what the microbiome is in relation to plants, it is important to first understand the concept of the microbiome; what this means in relation to the host becomes an extension of this working concept. Conceptualizing the microbiome requires a fusion of microbial ecology and bioinformatics, ...

Fungal endophytes, ubiquitous among terrestrial plants, are especially abundant and diverse in asymptomatic foliage of tropical trees and shrubs_ As such, tropical endophytes are wjdely thought to comprise an important component of fl.!ngalbiodiversity at a global scale. Yet, neither the diversity of endophytes associated with even a single individual plant, nor the potential importance of host...

Jacinta C. Beehner, Daphne A. Onderdonk, Susan C. Alberts, and Jeanne Altmann Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA, Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27701, USA, Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya, and Department of Conservation Biology, Chicago Zoological Society, Brookfield, IL 605...

Some of the most fascinating and challenging questions in ecology are why biodiversity is highest in tropical forests and whether the factors involved are unique to these habitats. I did a worldwide test of the hypotheses that plant community divergence in antiherbivore traits results in higher insect herbivore diversity, and that predominant attack by specialized herbivores promotes plant rich...